The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balserilla’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Santa Paula, Calif. during August 2005. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Osteospermum cultivars that are freely flowering with unique flower coloration and a freely branching, compact, and upright growth habit.
The new Osteospermum cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis breeding selection designated 224-lop-1, not patented, characterized by its white-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and upright-mounded, vase-like growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis breeding selection designated 172-2-3-2, not patented, characterized by its medium purple-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and upright-mounded growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during February 2006 in a controlled environment at Santa Paula, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since February 2006 at Santa Paula, Calif.; Arroyo Grande, Calif.; and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.